This year I am thankful for:

Subcontinent--I feel like I needed a lot of advice this year, and most of it I found within myself, or by listening to StoryCorps, or by re-reading my religious text of choice, The History Boys, but the handful of times I let her know what I was thinking and what I was facing she was there, not only with encouragement but with sympathy as well, and that's more rare than you would think.

Roommate J--for similar reasons, but mostly for our epic summer e-mails and for the original works of art she is constantly providing to decorate my room. The froomies know what I mean.

Anthony Blunt--I'm going to London in January to read his memoir. They gave me money and everything. My thesis topic rocks, and it's because the Cambridge spies are crazy-fascinating to everyone.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt--Oh my goodness.

The Aged Ps--Parents who give not only the gift of friendship and flawless parenting but also the freedom to spend a year off doing what I want are definitely something to be thankful for.

Also: peppermint tea; Cornel West's music-only lecture; The Civilians; SWAN Day; tea chats with K; carrel parties with A; perfect reunions with HarvardGirl and StOlafBoy; chocolate chip cookies; learning to make The Chocolate Sauce; the venerable Subaru; Bottles of St. Pourcain; A Suitable Boy; the constant companionship of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Some Like It Hot; RedHead, who told me I was one of her favorite writers when I most needed to hear it; Lawnparties photo shoots; the Spelman Hall nuclear family; Midori sours; Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; "One day I had to admit to myself that I was a Bert, not an Ernie."; San Francisco; John Le Carré, George Smiley's glasses-cleaning habits, Young Peter Guillam, and Jim Prideaux (breaking readers' hearts since 1974); champagne, mixed nuts, pedicures, and dress-up; Jane Eyre adaptations; posters; sinister swedes; Kate Bularski; oral history; "Entrepreneeeeuuuurrr"; the carpet on the floor of my room at Princeton.

This year (and most of the time), I am thankful for:
HarvardGirl, BrandeisGirl, Trebor, Schinkel, Subcontinent and her family, CornellBoy The Aged Ps, Roommate J, Athena and her roommates, The Street, Interns T, N, and C, the ex-neighbors, The Tales of the City series, The Wire, air conditioning, Mr. President Elect Obama, family, turkey (and sometimes ham), taco nights at ResidentialCollege, chocolate, chocolate croissants, Master Awesome, Frenchman Adviser, Connecticut, Adrian Tomine, Hanif Kureishi, Roger Ebert, Raymond Chandler, Coretta Scott King, the cabin, the continued health of the people I love, Lord Byron, Francis Crawford of Lymond, Dido Twite, fedoras, the inventor of nail polish, champagne, the Getty Museum, the liberal arts, Jeffrey Eugenides, civil rights, stationery, cookies, tea, conversation, Desmond Tutu, The West Wing, House, Stephen Fry, voter registration, the artist formerly known as Masterpiece Theater, salsa lessons, Knox College, Princeton, the United Nations, Atticus Finch, Alexandre Dumas, George Bernard Shaw, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Some Like it Hot, mayonnaise, Small World Coffee, and YOU.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!

This year I am thankful for godparents, the Cambridge spies, Paris, tea, dialog, California, Europe, stationary, writing utensils (especially those from the career fair), freshly mowed lawns, Dorothy Dunnett, witty banter, picking up littler, human rights, the history of the public toilet, crunchy apples, fall colors, free t-shirts, Cyrano de Bergerac, E.M. Forster, Hawaiian college masters, my English class, biology teachers who leap about, HBO, Subcontinent, the Ex-Neighbors, HarvardGirl, Unofficial Friday Night Film Club (and movies in general), Roommate J, Princeton, Mom, Dad, good health, novels, and more crazy stories than I have time to write down and put in my blog.

Love,
Nom de Plume